Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Three Down, Seven to Go

When SassDawg and The Coop were just a SassPupp and A MiniCoop, we attended a game with our respective old men and other various family members at the old Veterans Stadium in Philly -- the Mets were playing of course.

We met these old busty Irish ladies who came all the way from Yonkers to root for their Mets. See back in the late 80s, the Vet was also known as the Mets home away from home. You heard more "Lets go Mets" chants than anything for the Phils.

To this day, Sass and I still talk about these ladies -- Therese and Ann were their names, as we exchanged addresses and Christmas cards that year. They addressed it to the Little Coop, the two little guys at the game (Sass and our other cousin) and all *her* (meaning me) family.

Well, Therese and Ann are part of my All-Time Summer Family Hall of Fame, since we have basically plagiarized songs and chants they had from this game to this day.

When the Mets were on defense, and had one out for example, the ladies would sing "One down, two to go! One down, two to go!" Later the next year, during the 1988 LCS, I started this chant in our section in Mezzanine -- the whole section chanted it till the Dodgers hit into a double play, ending the inning. To which the guys yelled -- "Three down, let's go! Three down, let's go!"

They also sang songs about players -- like if Gary Carter got a base hit, they'd sing, "Good one, Ga-ry! Good one, son! Good one, Ga-ry - let's have another one!" Now it's more in line like - "Good one Da-vid! Good one, son!" You get the picture, I'm sure.

Tonight, I was singing -- Nice one, Tommy - nice one, son! With his win tonight -- 3-1 on the young year -- he has seven more wins to go to get to the big three-oh-oh. But then, I'm sure most of you can do basic math, so I won't bore you there.

Other notes -- I can't find the article right now, but Johan Santana and Twins talks have hit a wall, since he wants no less than an 8-year contract. We all know, judging by last year's off-season, how high exactly teams will go.

If the Mets don't do it someone else will.

The question is -- do the Mets offer Johan that years / $$ he is asking?

DISCUSS!!!!

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Lastly, I just want to send my thoughts on the Virginia Tech massacre. I think for most of us, it hits close to home because it could have been anyone of us, or any of our loved ones who could have been hurt. Even someone like David Wright was not exempt, since his brother attends there and was not reachable for some time, but is OK, thank goodness.

I just want to send my thoughts and express what heartfelt sorrow I feel on this senseless tragedy. I will now take a moment of silence.

10 comments:

Seeing as how I'm having my coffee at the moment, I'll address the coffee tawk section, Sabathia would be a good fit as long as he were the first person not to be from Hawaii to wear the number 50. In all seriousness, he's a power pitcher, not afraid to throw the heater, probably not a terrible fit for the team. As far as king Johan, he's a power pitcher compared to Zito's finesse pitching. I like him, if the Mets free agency dollars are going to be spent anywhere, I think that Johan is our man.

As far as the awakening of the bats last night, it is just a shame that they couldn't get the whole series in down at Coors Field East. I'm glad that the Mets brass when they purchased the plans for Citi field realized that the Metropolitans are a franchise built on their pitching.

Last item of significant note, there are good odds that Ms Sassdawg., Hambone (the original Sassdawg., and myself will be attending Dog day this Saturday for the game against the team that the fans chose as our biggest threat in the division (70% voted last night). If anyone else wants to bring their pooch, the seats are out in the picnic area, and you can order tickets from the group sales window on mets.com. The user name to order is NSAL, and the password is METS, please note the user name and passwords are case sensitive. It is a nice time, all 3 of us attended last year. And fortunately for us the game this year is at least against a worthy opponent.

Will Joe Smith every give up a run? Are people done complaining about giving a three year deal to Chad Bradford?

Zito will be fine....I still like him.

Great on us not getting Schmidt, but I don't think there was all that much interest on their part....of course, us fans had some tepid interest on a short term contract, but good thing we are not running the team! Not that he would have come here and $15 per was toooo much.

CC? Yes. I'd give up a lot to get him and surprise! We have some blue chips to deal! Although, it would take two A prospects and a mid level to get it done. He's going to cost....and there better be an extension window or no deal. Which is the issue....a guy like CC probably wants to stay in Cleveland and would work out a deal if they had the cash. However, if he has to leave, he has no allegiance to that team and would probably chase the $$$$, which is understandable. However, Omar might be able to sell him, but no extension, no trade and the Indians should trade this guy. They are deep with young arms and could get another high end arm back with a high end position player.

8 years for Johan? No. He's and ace+++++, but that is going to be nuts. $160+ plus? Yikes. The precedent for those types of contracts is not good. Raise Pelfrey....Humber....Mulvey...pick up solid arms, is it nice to have a guy like Johan? Yup, but having a deep, round team is more important and having a guy clog up the team would be bad. At this point, giving anyone a Zito deal is too much. Just toooooo much.

First I recalled CC's stint on the DL last season and questioned his durability. However, I checked the stats and saw that he has pitched close to 200 innings each year of his career. When I have seen him (which was much more often in previous years, since I gave up roto this year), I liked what saw very much. He appears to be the classic candidate for AL pitcher going to the NL and dominating. If the Injuns are willing to part with him, the asking price will be hefty, though the last top prospect we gave them, Alex Escobar, didn't turn out to hurt us too badly.

Speaking of former Met prospects, I noted on the same rumor website that with the injuries plaguing the Marlins' rotation, they are considering calling up Gabi Hernandez from AA. What happened to Yosmiro Petit?

Joe Smith did a great job battling back from the leadoff double he gave up in the 8th. I know it's not uncommon these days, but it's still pretty sick that a year ago at this time, he was pitching for Wright State.

Sass, can't do Saturday afternoon (we have no dog to bring anyway), but the Missus and I will be there on Sunday afternoon to watch Tom go for number 294. I had to go through StubHub to insure seats in the sun (can't do that through Mets.com), but we found a Loge Box on the 3rd Base side.

As for CC, he's been ridden hard for a 26 year old who is huge (6' 7", 290), so he's not going to have a long career. But if you can get him without gving up too much, through 2011 he's certainly worth it.

As for Johan, no price is too high. Best pitcher in baseball, moving to the lesser league with no DH and into a pitcher's ballpark? I'll take two, thanks!

First, Bookie I am tres disappointed that you didn't ask me if I was selling my tix on Sunday. I have better prices than Stubhub and seats in the sun :D It's all good though - I might be going anyway. And Mrs. Bookie is a trouper, with the little Bookette on the way!

George - I couldn't tell if you were joking, but Petit I believe was included in the Delgado trade. Not in the George July trade -- unless you meant Petit is like Duque?? I wasn't following, snicker

Mike - I am all for Johan and if there is someone to overpay for, it would be him, not a Zito-type. BUT he needs to understand that 8-years for a pitcher is steep. I can see the Yankees do that, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. But like a 5-year, with a 6th-year option maybe, and higher on dollars (similar structure to what Mets offered Zito, but more moolah), I would be on board.

Thanks, George. I knew there was a reason Petit was off the Fish's radar screen.

Coop--you are totally right. I totally spaced on asking you (or anyone else around here) for Sunday tickets. I think I may have assumed that with all the horrendous weather, all the season ticket holders would be using their tixx on Sunday. Now that I know your seats are in the sun, I will definitely ask you first.

Mrs. Bookie is a trooper, that's why she's Mrs. Bookie. Also, she is making an effort to join in my enjoyment of the Amazins'. She grew up in a Yankee household, and while I was able to get her off the Evil Empire, I am still working on getting her to come all the way around to supporting the Good Guys. She requested to attend a day game, just the two of us, before the Baby arrives, and Sunday fit the bill. Besides, there are worse ways for a pregnant woman to spend a sunny afternoon than a nice day at the ballpark. Of course, getting to and from said ballpark is an entirely different story altogether.

I agree that Santana would be awesome, but 8-year deals in baseball are the kinds that can f-up a franchise for a long time if they don't pan out.

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This blog is dedicated to all of the special people I have met over the years going to ball games. From Dominic, Rob & Mike in the 80s, to Cow-Bell Man and Sign Guy in the 90s, to Tommy, Frank and the Woodside Crew Mezzanine Section 22, to the new generation including Julie & Ben, Mark & Eddie and Matt and his two sons. This is for Dad, Uncle Gene, Aunt Melissa, Sass-Dawg, Uncle Scott, Uncle Mike and my "real" family who understand where this comes from. Come join me in following my beloved Mets!